惕

tì

Ti · starting in alarm

Also rendered: starting in alarm (Keeps both the suddenness and the watchfulness) · apprehensive start (Leans toward the 惕 side; less sudden)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: tì
Simplified: 惕
Literal: 惕 tì is alarm with a particular shape: not the single jolt of fright but the raised, watchful state that follows it — the body braced because something has been registered as a threat. Chapter 30 pairs it with 驚 jīng, the sudden start, and the two together describe a sequence rather than a single event: 聞木音則惕然而驚, he hears the sound of wood and starts, alarmed. The graph belongs to the vocabulary of the heart in early Chinese medicine, and it is worth noticing that the chapter explains it without referring to the heart at all.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：惕，敬也，从心易聲——**「惕」讀 tì，本篇一見，懼而戒備之貌**，與「驚」（卒然而動）義近而別；或讀 yì 者非是。本篇一見：「聞木音則惕然而驚」——「惕然」狀其驚起之貌，「而」字連下「驚」，是先有戒懼之心而後卒然而動，二字有次第。

In brief

The alarm that chapter 30 describes in a patient with Yangming disease when he hears the sound of wood. It is paired with 驚, the sudden start, and the pair is explained by the conquest sequence: the stomach is earth, wood conquers earth, and so the sound belonging to wood reaches him where he is vulnerable. The chapter’s own control is bells and drums — metal does not conquer earth, and metal leaves him unmoved.

Senses in the classical corpus

Alarm on hearing wood 惕然而驚

聞木音則戒懼而卒然驚動

聞木音則惕然而驚 — Suwen 30

The start itself 驚

卒然而動，與惕之戒懼者別

聞木音而驚，何也 — Suwen 30

Why wood and not metal 鐘鼓不爲動

金不剋土，故聞之而不惕不驚

鐘鼓不爲動 — Suwen 30

The rule behind it 土惡木也

土為木之所勝，故聞木音而惕然而驚

故聞木音而驚者，土惡木也 — Suwen 30

The vessel that answers 足陽明之脉病

陽明為胃之脉，胃屬土，故應木音

足陽明之脉病，惡人與火 — Suwen 30

The other face of alarm 惋

惕驚於外來之音，惋鬱於內生之氣，二者相對

陽明厥則喘而惋，惋則惡人 — Suwen 30

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

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3 passages

素問·陽明脉解 Suwen 30 · 陽明脉解 Read in context →

黃帝問曰：足陽明之脉病，惡人與火，聞木音則惕然而驚，鐘鼓不爲動，聞木音而驚，何也？黄帝问曰：足阳明之脉病，恶人与火，闻木音则惕然而惊，钟鼓不为动，闻木音而惊，何也？

Huáng dì wèn yuē: zú yáng míng zhī mài bìng, wù rén yǔ huǒ, wén mù yīn zé tì rán ér jīng, zhōng gǔ bù wéi dòng, wén mù yīn ér jīng, hé yě?

The Yellow Emperor asks: when the vessel of foot Yangming is diseased, the patient is averse to people and to fire; he hears the sound of wood and starts in alarm, yet bells and drums do not move him. Why is it that the sound of wood alarms him?

「惕」字本篇惟此一見，與「驚」連言。**「惕」讀 tì，懼而戒備也**，《說文》：「惕，敬也」，引申為心有所懼而動；與「驚」之卒然而動者別。「聞」讀 wén，本篇四見，底本作「聞」，不作「闻」；「木」讀 mù，本篇四見；「音」讀 yīn，本篇三見；「則」讀 zé，本篇十一見；「然」讀 rán；「而」讀 ér，本篇十一見。**「鐘」讀 zhōng，底本作「鐘」，不作「钟」**；「鼓」讀 gǔ；「不」讀 bù；「爲」讀 wéi；「動」讀 dòng。「聞木音則惕然而驚」與「鐘鼓不爲動」對舉，是全篇五行論證之眼：同是聲音，而金聲不動、木聲獨驚。

素問·剌瘧 Suwen 36 · 剌瘧 Read in context →

足少陽之瘧，令人身體解㑊，寒不甚，熱不甚，惡見人，見人心惕惕然，熱多汗出甚，剌足少陽。足少阳之疟，令人身体解㑊，寒不甚，热不甚，恶见人，见人心惕惕然，热多汗出甚，刺足少阳。

Zú shào yáng zhī nüè, lìng rén shēn tǐ xiè yì, hán bù shèn, rè bù shèn, wù jiàn rén, jiàn rén xīn tì tì rán, rè duō hàn chū shèn, cì zú shào yáng.

Malaria of the foot lesser yang leaves the body slack and spent; the cold is not great and the heat is not great, but the person hates to see anyone, and seeing anyone sets his heart fluttering with alarm. The heat runs long and the sweating is profuse. Needle the foot lesser yang.

「惕」之目於本站已立（id 923），所收一條為第三十篇「聞木音則惕然而驚」——**以木剋土釋其驚：胃者土也，土惡木也**。**本篇「惕」字2見，在一句之内作重言**：「惡見人，見人心惕惕然」——**是本站諸「惕」引文中唯一作重言（惕惕然）之一條**。「足」讀 zú；「少」讀 shào；「陽」讀 yáng；「之」讀 zhī；「瘧」讀 nüè；「令」讀 lìng；「人」讀 rén；「身」讀 shēn；「體」讀 tǐ；「解」讀 xiè；「㑊」讀 yì；「寒」讀 hán；「不」讀 bù；「甚」讀 shèn；「熱」讀 rè；「惡」讀 wù，讀 wù；「見」讀 jiàn；「心」讀 xīn；「惕」讀 tì，讀 tì；「然」讀 rán；「多」讀 duō；「汗」讀 hàn；「出」讀 chū；「剌」讀 cì。**其因非木音，乃「惡見人而見人則惕」**——**與第三十篇之以五行相剋釋之者，為一由外感、一由内病**：**彼則聞聲而惕（木剋土），此則見人而惕（膽虚而怯）**——**少陽屬膽，膽者決斷之官，膽病則怯，故惡見人而見之則惕惕**。**「寒不甚，熱不甚」而獨見其神之惕惕，是本篇狀瘧不獨狀寒熱、亦狀其神之一證**：**與第六段厥陰瘧「意恐懼」、第九段肝瘧「其狀若死者」、第七段肺瘧「熱間善驚，如有所見者」為言神之四處**，**而本段之惕與第七段之驚，又為本篇「惕」「驚」二字之分用**：**惕者心之動，驚者神之駭**。

素問·脉解 Suwen 49 · 脉解 Read in context →

所謂甚則厥，惡人與火，聞木音則惕然而驚者，陽氣與陰氣相薄，水火相惡，故惕然而驚也。所谓甚则厥，恶人与火，闻木音则惕然而惊者，阳气与阴气相薄，水火相恶，故惕然而惊也。

Suǒ wèi shèn zé jué, wù rén yǔ huǒ, wén mù yīn zé tì rán ér jīng zhě, yáng qì yǔ yīn qì xiāng bó, shuǐ huǒ xiāng wù, gù tì rán ér jīng yě.

What is called inversion in severe cases, shrinking from people and from fire, and starting in alarm at the sound of wood: yang qi and yin qi press against one another and water and fire dislike one another; hence the starting in alarm.

「「惕」讀 tì然而驚者」——**本篇「惕」2見，讀 tì**；「驚」讀 jīng、**本篇2見**；**陽氣與陰氣相薄，水火相惡，故聞木音而惕然驚**。

Compounds built on this term

惕然而驚

tì rán ér jīng

starting in alarm

本篇一見，聞木音之狀

驚

jīng

the sudden start

本篇三見，與惕連言

怵惕

chù tì

dread and alarm

《內經》常見之對，與本篇惕然之義可互參

驚駭

jīng hài

fright

《素問》他篇屢見，與本篇之驚同源

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

Wiseman & Feng	(rendered as) frightened / alarmed	They render 惕 with the ordinary vocabulary of fright, letting 惕然 and 驚 collapse into a single English idea.
Unschuld	(rendered as) fearful	Unschuld likewise uses a single affect word, and notes the construction rather than the distinction between the two graphs.
This site	starting in alarm	We keep the two halves visible: 'alarm' for the raised, watchful state of 惕, 'start' for the sudden movement of 驚. The chapter is precise here — the patient is not merely frightened by a noise, he is braced and then he starts, and the order of the two graphs says so.

Entry status

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2026-09

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